.
I know, I know, Sean H. Mill wrote a post of the same title some months back at the Liberal O.C., alluding like myself to that execrable novel which the cruel flinty-eyed Clint Eastwood seared into our consciousnesses.
But of course, Sean H. Mill, as we all know, is a poet. And he was using “bridges” as a metaphor: a metaphor for building connections between the Latino and Asian communities in the central county.
While I, as you may not know, am an engineer and city planner, and I am writing about the ACTUAL GODDAMN FREEWAY BRIDGES OF ORANGE COUNTY—their majesty, grace and strength. Take this one for example:
The mighty Red Hill overpass, envy of all other counties. Straddling fourteen lanes of the 405 just south of the 55, this awe-inspiring edifice stretches nearly a mile long and crests at two hundred feet. On most days it passes felt but unnoticed by most motorists who are busy trying to figure out which lane they should be in at the last moment, but on a slow busy Friday afternoon (3 to 7 pm) it’s been computed that several hundred thousand slowly crawling drivers reverently lift up their eyes to this behemoth.
The historic Miraloma bridge over the 57 passes through a quiet Latino neighborhood in south Placentia, but the number of motorists heading north on a Friday afternoon from their OC jobs to their happy homes in “the 909” who have several minutes to gaze at this bridge’s subtle beauty rivals the number for the Red Hill overpass.
Ah, Fountain Valley, the New Hampshire of Orange County whose “Live free or die” ethos translates to a strong patriotic resistance to the encroachment of religious symbols into their government buildings. Mavericks as always, you can tell Fountain Valley’s seven bridges by the inward-tilted “Ayeresque” curve of the chainlink fences. This wise, forward-thinking detail – along with the hardy “constitution” of FV’s lovable residents, result in the lowest suicide rate of all OC towns.
Who hasn’t heard the heart-warming saga of the construction of Garden Grove’s “J. Tillman Williams Pedestrian Bridge” over the 22, just west of – you guessed – Harbor Boulevard? A gift to the Garden Grove schoolchildren by the beloved ’80’s mayor and Esperanto scholar, this local treasure was modeled on the famed Belgian 16-century podaches, and was the inspiration for No Doubt’s ska hit “Bridge Over my 22.”
This Los Alamitos overpass over the 605 was one of the bridges in contention during the early 1970’s skirmishes between Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Just a quick glance at its heft and thrust helps us understand our ancestors’ attachment to this monument of modern transport. And on this coming Independence Day we raise a cup of Orange juice to the brave Los Alamitos Equestrian Brigade who gave their lives to keep this overpass for their descendants!
Another Fountain Valley bridge, this one the Bushard overpass, in a photograph taken the day before Election Day 2006. This shot, I think, captures the serenity which made the bridge so irresistable to Kerouac and his beat poet companions, as he immortalized in “Letters From Cody.”
Another view of the J. Tillman Williams Pedestrian Bridge shows the circuitous wonder of the construction and shows why Garden Grove schoolchildren have found it such a endlessly fascinating place to frolic over the decades. Oh, the innocent days when Paul Lucas, Rebecca Schoenkopf, Van Tran, Benny Diaz and I ran back and forth across the Tillman bridge, long before we became the people we were destined to be!
I must not neglect the quaint little overpasses of streets like Bolsa over the 405 in Westminster, typified by the iceplant first planted by Nancy Reagan when her husband was Governor in the 1960’s.
Known as the gateway to the OC (or to Long Beach if you’re heading North) the mighty Seal Beach Boulevard overpass provides a fitting bookend to the larger Red Hill overpass with which I began this presentation.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE BRIDGES OF ORANGE COUNTY! Hint – Keep your eye on them this July 4 & 5. Your correspondent, engineer and city planner, Vern Nelson, signing off!
Vern.
Is this series also identifed as the “bridge over troubled water”? Have you been listening to, or playing, Simon and Garfunkel’s tunes on Saturday nights? Just curious!
I love the New Hampshire reference. A lot of our bloggers would like it there. I miss the state a lot. 🙁
SMS
Hmmm…they might be notable from an engineering perspective, but can’t these overpasses be designed to be a bit more pleasing to the eye in terms of bridge design?
Yeah Anon. Why can’t they paint them beeuteefull colors. New Mexico does lovely pastels. Makes the commute almost bearable. Almost……Nice shots Vern~Ms M
These Bridges of OC bring back some sad memories!
Larry, You hit it on the nail-head in #1 … Vern’s bridges are clever, but where’s the music? It’s the music that strikes deep into the soul … It was the music that brought us out of the lunacy of VietNam, where I was infantry officer in 70-71. Simon&Garfunkle’s “Last Night I dreamed the strangest dream”, Pete Seegar’s “And the big fool said to push on”; Cat Steven’s “Moonshadow – If I ever lose my leg” (a lot of young men and women are losin’ ’em today); and of course Edwin Starr’s “War! What is it good for?” Where are the song writers and musicians today? — intimidated? supressed? Where’s the music? This ain’t nuthin’ but a heartbreak.
Six comments and not a single observation that all the bridge pictures include “Freeway blogs?” Though I guess that’s what Larry and SAHS Teacher are alluding to.
As for me, I wrote to the original Freeway Blogger himself and alerted him to Vern’s post. Perhaps he’ll be by later to comment himself.
That’s funny Larry, I was playing for someone’s 50-year anniversary from 7-8 last night, and I know I did “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” near the end, it might have been right when you were writing that comment.
And wow, Gila’s right, these bridges DO all have freeway-blog banners on them. I’ll have to look through my collection and see if I have any pictures of OC bridges without that feature. This is really weird. Is freeway blogging that common here? And when will the authorities do something about it, like they have about shopping carts being taken home?
Gorgeous work! Looks like Orange County is the new Berkeley! Legally speaking, this sort of bridgework falls under the heading of “People living up to their obligations as citizens” but you can’t expect every cop on the beat to know that.
I’ve posted over 5,000 of these things along the west coast now, and only been stopped by police seven times. Only one of those times did the guy try to play hard ass on me (he was working for Dept. of Homeland Security) but neither of us took it too seriously: the day someone gets in trouble for putting up a political, non commercial sign on public property is the Day America Dies and we both knew it.
Also, his hard-ass demeanor was severely undercut by the fact he looked exactly like Paul Simon, and I happen to love Simon and Garfunkle. Keep speaking out, Orange County, without your building bridges over Troubled Waters, all there’d be is the sounds of silence.
I though it was “post no signs” on public property. What if there is a car wreak because of the distraction.
I like the part about, “do something”, should those people stop their cars and walk? Two birds , 3 birds with a single stone. 1 gas 2 global warming 3 Iraq, well 2 birds since Iraq has nothing to do with rush hour traffic in Orange County Ca,
Silly Cook, do all the billboards on the highway create “car wreaks?” Actually the law is pretty vague on freeway-blogging, between the First Amendment versus “nuisance” and “littering” concerns. The folks you can see standing by their banners above (wonder who they are!) have a better first amendment argument than those of us (whoops) who hang up their banners and leave to put up other ones.
3 birds with a single stone. 1 gas 2 global warming 3 Iraq, well 2 birds since Iraq has nothing to do with rush hour traffic…
Ha! Didn’t quite catch yourself in time there, did you Cook? Even YOU know the Iraq War was mainly about oil.
Hey you mentioned a while back that I should come by to see your American Indian flag, think I’ll take you up on that if you’re not busy July 4. (I’ll e-mail you…)
By the way, commenter #9 was a celebrity visitor to our humble blog – Scarlet Pimpernel is the original “Freeway Blogger” of http://www.freewayblogger.com!
See him in action here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFCL98m7Jeg&feature=related
Here are some interesting exchanges between speech activists dealing with police watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYCA5W78cYU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY2wc9gf5Gs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj1fd9QwPIk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC7Gqvssa8E&feature=related
Vern, you’re the first person I’ve ever known to recognize the obscure Belgian 16-century podaches! Not only are you a virtuosic musician, engineer, wordsmith and architectural aficionado -you are pretty damn funny! (And your butt tastes fabulous.)